When referencing one’s “non-school academic influences”, I assume that countless students most likely say their parents were their biggest inspiration, or that their parents pushed and supported them to a certain level of academic success. The reason I would assume such a thing is because I saw this within my own household throughout my childhood. Even with this being said, I still personally never experienced that “push” from my parents in order for me to achieve academic distinction. My two older brothers were actually the greatest influence in nearly every area of my life.
Being the youngest child of three boys presented a very opportunistic way of growing up in my opinion. Since both of my older brothers experienced almost everything before I did, I always got to see the problems with their behavior, the faults in their habits, and the error in their methods. There were multitudes of moments that my parents would literally scream at my siblings in order to get them to do homework or study. Seeing a parent scream like the way mine did could seem frightening to another child, but to me I saw these instances merely as observations. As odd as it sounds, my brothers’ mistakes are actually the reason I learned to do well in school.
Throughout my schooling, playing sports was something my brothers and I did quite often. And again, seeing them struggle with classes and balancing schoolwork helped me realize what I needed to do in order to avoid awkward encounters with parents and teachers. When I saw my brother unable to play a sport because of a certain task he didn’t get done in time, I knew I never wanted that to happen to me. I quickly learned that playing sports was a privilege,and I wasn’t going to let that privilege be taken away from me. I made sure that my grades were well above the needed requirement which in turn made my life easier in many aspects. My parents were continually satisfied with my work, my coaches were pleased that I could always play, and I all I needed to do to maintain this was get my work done. My brother’s flaw influenced me academically so that sports were always an option for me.
Even though my parents never really needed to get on my case about schoolwork doesn’t mean they didn’t support me in every way possible. The better I did, the happier they were, and this helped me in several ways. My parents would reward me with something for the sole reason of the several “A’s” on my report card. They were also much more lenient to me than my brothers’ when they were my age in high school because of how responsible I was becoming. The fact that my non-school life was beneficially affected by my good grades gave me a solid reason to continue doing well in school.
In college, the non-school academic influence is even greater. While continuing my education is the primary reason for coming to this university, it is not the only thing I want to do while I’m here. Throughout these college years I am meeting new people and experiencing many new things. In order to continue learning and become involved, I must maintain my academics so that I am able to stay on campus and carry on with these experiences.
My brothers’ influences made me learn a lot about doing well in school, but it is no longer the primary influence. Now that I’m older, I notice that doing well in school makes life a whole lot easier, and allows me to further my options in so many different ways. However, I also realize my motivation to do well is not from my willingness to learn, but from my own desire to be successful in and out of the classroom.
When referencing one’s “non-school academic influences”, I assume that countless students most likely say their parents were their biggest inspiration, or that their parents pushed and supported them to a certain level of academic success. The reason I would assume such a thing is because I saw this within my own household throughout my childhood. Even with this being said, I still personally never experienced that “push” from my parents in order for me to achieve academic distinction. My two older brothers were actually the greatest influence in nearly every area of my life.
Being the youngest child of three boys presented a very opportunistic way of growing up in my opinion. Since both of my older brothers experienced almost everything before I did, I always got to see the problems with their behavior, the faults in their habits, and the error in their methods. There were multitudes of moments that my parents would literally scream at my siblings in order to get them to do homework or study. Seeing a parent scream like the way mine did could seem frightening to another child, but to me I saw these instances merely as observations. As odd as it sounds, my brothers’ mistakes are actually the reason I learned to do well in school.
Throughout my schooling, playing sports was something my brothers and I did quite often. And again, seeing them struggle with classes and balancing schoolwork helped me realize what I needed to do in order to avoid awkward encounters with parents and teachers. When I saw my brother unable to play a sport because of a certain task he didn’t get done in time, I knew I never wanted that to happen to me. I quickly learned that playing sports was a privilege, and I wasn’t going to let that privilege be taken away from me. I made sure that my grades were well above the needed requirement which in turn made my life easier in many aspects. My parents were continually satisfied with my work, my coaches were pleased that I could always play, and I all I needed to do to maintain this was get my work done. My brother’s flaw influenced me academically so that sports were always an option for me.
Even though my parents never really needed to get on my case about schoolwork doesn’t mean they didn’t support me in every way possible. The better I did, the happier they were, and this helped me in several ways. My parents would reward me with something for the sole reason of the several “A’s” on my report card. They were also much more lenient to me than my brothers’ when they were my age in high school because of how responsible I was becoming. The fact that my non-school life was beneficially affected by my good grades gave me a solid reason to continue doing well in school.
In college, the non-school academic influence is even greater. While continuing my education is the primary reason for coming to this university, it is not the only thing I want to do while I’m here. Throughout these college years I am meeting new people and experiencing many new things. In order to continue learning and become involved, I must maintain my academics so that I am able to stay on campus and carry on with these experiences.
My brothers’ influences made me learn a lot about doing well in school, but it is no longer the primary influence. Now that I’m older, I notice that doing well in school makes life a whole lot easier, and allows me to further my options in so many different ways. However, I also realize my motivation to do well is not from my willingness to learn, but from my own desire to be successful in and out of the classroom.